I would like to leverage an existing (and patented) research methodology, but use it in a different way. The current patented methodology relies on a specific process of humans prescribing assignments and asking questions of other humans, whereas I believe that this process could be conducted in a different way online (in mass quantity) and become more scalable and more accurate.

I want to give credit and recognition to the original patent holder. I'm just wondering how much say they will/should have in the deployment of a modified process that takes their original concept to the next level, and how much it will likely cost to leverage their original invention.